THE day before, London had been a sea of smiling faces - a city ready to party after winning the race to host the 2012 Olympics.

But yesterday, the party was over. Celebration was replaced by devastation as terrorists brought death, fear and mayhem to the capital.

In 24 hours, London had plunged from an incredible high to a terrible low. The sun had set on one of the city's greatest days and risen on one of its worst.

Survivors spoke of their terror following the first Tube tunnel blast between Liverpool Street Station and Aldgate East.

London Underground chaplain Steve Nichols said: "There was one poor lady who had been impaled by one of the poles in the train and she was still alive."

Loyita Worley, 49, was in the neighbouring carriage when the explosion struck.

She said: "There was a big bang and then all the ash. I could not breathe. It was falling down everywhere and over everything.

"Everyone was stunned for a moment. We could see a flickering light and everyone was terrified there was going to be a fire."

She saw seriously injured people in the tunnel and could not open the door of the carriage at first.

She said: "Some people started to panic, but most were okay. We tried to open the doors, but they were fixed shut and the ash was settling everywhere."

She and fellow travellers were led along the track to safety by Underground workers.

Arash Kazerouni, 22, from Edmonton, north London, said: "There was a loud bang and the train ground to a halt.

"People started panicking, screaming and crying as smoke came into the carriage.

"When they led us to safety, I went past the carriage where I think the explosion was. The metal was all blown outwards and there were people inside being helped by paramedics.

"One guy was being tended outside on the track. His clothes were torn off and he seemed pretty badly burned.

"This whole thing teaches you to appreciate your life; you don't know what's round the corner."

Jack Linton, 14, from Hawkwell, Essex, said: "Everybody got on the floor.

"Then the smoke cleared and we managed to open the central doors down the train to go to the back of it before they walked us along the track past the train to the station. The middle of the train was blown out and there were people on the track. I've got glass in my hair and my pockets, and my ear hurts."

Michael Henning, 39, a broker, from west London, said: "I was travelling to Tower Hill to a meeting, and nearly got into the carriage where the bomb went off, but thought it looked busy, so went in the next one.

"I was about 10ft from where the bomb went off.

"It was very dark, people were panicking and screaming, but the girls were the calmest. To give them their due, they got things under control very quickly.

"I've suffered facial injuries from the flying glass, and an abrasion to my eye, but overall I feel extremely lucky."

The second blast, which ripped through a packed Piccadilly Line train between Russell Square and King's Cross, was the most lethal.

Fiona Trueman, 26, said: "The lights went out, and with the smoke we could not breathe, and we sort of cushioned each other during the impact because the compartment was so full. It felt like a dream, it was surreal.

"I was in the second carriage and I think the explosion was in the carriage in front of me, or maybe was even on the track, and the screaming from the front carriage was terrible.

"It was just horrendous, it was like a disaster movie. You cannot imagine being somewhere like that, you just want to get out. I kept closing my eyes and thinking of outside."

Carol Miller, 35, was on a Circle Line train going in the opposite direction to the one hit by the third blast close to Edgware Road station. She said: "I saw one lady who was ripped to pieces, lying between the two trains. People were trying to help her.

"It was the most horrendous thing I've ever seen in my life."

Ben McCarthy said: "The carriages filled with smoke. At that stage, somebody, a man I think, was blown out of the door of the train, he was under the carriages.

"Everything was black, and filled with smoke for a while. It was terrifying. People were incredibly calm, but very, very shocked.

"The screams from the guy who was under the train obviously made the whole incident so much worse."

A top doctor caught in the the King's Cross blast is expected to have his leg amputated today. Professor Philip Patsalos, 52, an epilepsy specialist, works at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

His wife, Ellie, said: "I feared the worst when I called his colleagues at work and heard he didn't show up to a 9 o'clock meeting."

After ringing round the London hospitals, she found he was in the Royal London Hospital.

She said: "He looks very badly scarred and was too dazed to talk to me. I don't know what the future holds for him now."